Aaron's Story
by Marioninja1
Summary: Aaron, a relative of the Hyuga Clan, tries to make it through Konoha High School after attacking Hiashi Hyuga.
1. Chapter 1

In a Juvenile Detention Center miles from Konoha city, a tall kid with short brown hair and a red bandana over his forehead walked out, finally free. He blinked his white eyes in the sunlight and stretched.

"C'mon Aaron!" Neji shouted. "Are you missing all the boys in the shower?"

"Piss off." Aaron said. Aaron Hyuga was a distant relative to Neji and Hinata from America. He had moved to Japan to 'get closer with his family' and, after three months, had punched Hinata's father in the face, shouting 'I'm tired of your shit!' That, of course, landed Aaron in jail, as well as getting a seal on his forehead.

"Catch!" Neji said, tossing a box to Aaron. Aaron caught it, quickly opening it.

"You are the best friend I've ever had," Aaron smiled, and took the bandana off of his forehead. Then, he tightened the white Konoha headband over his forehead. "When can I see Hinata?"

"Hinata, Hinata, Hinata." Neji said. "Sheesh. You won't see her all summer. She never leaves the house, and her father has a restraining order on you."

"Damn." Aaron said. "At least I'm in the same grade as her. Thanks for bringing me all of my work, dude."

"Anything for you," Neji smiled, patting his cousin on the back. "Want to get some food?"

"I haven't had food in a year," Aaron said. "I wouldn't feed the crap in there to Hiashi."

The two laughed. "Looks like you still hate him." Neji smiled.

"Hey, he deserved that black eye." Aaron shrugged.

**A/N: Sorry if Neji acts oddly around Aaron. And yes, those floppy blue pajamas are a recurring item in my stories (read the next few paragraphs.)-MN1**

_Several months later_

Hinata woke up, yawning.

'First day of school,' Hinata thought glumly, sitting up in bed. Her long black hair went down her blue floppy pajamas' back. Hinata had changed a lot after Aaron had socked her father in the face, becoming less shy as her father grew to like her more. Hinata got dressed and went downstairs, smiling at her family.

"Good morning," her father nodded, smiling behind the newspaper.

"Morning." Hinata nodded, and sat across from her father. She saw a small headline, but her father gave the paper to Hanabi so she could read the comics before Hinata finished reading it. Hinata quickly ate her breakfast, then hugged her family goodbye, eager to go to school to see her friends.

"Have a good day." Hiashi said.

"Good luck!" Her mother said.

On the sidewalk she noticed a red line across the road about fifty feet from her house.

'That's odd...' Hinata noted and, as soon as she crossed it, a teenager walked towards her. He was fairly muscular, and had short brown hair. Thinking that she was going to be attacked, she attacked first.

"Hey H-!" Aaron had to dodge several attacks, slowly moving back while talking. "Hinata, it's me! Aaron! Stop it!"

Hinata realized that he was telling the truth and stopped attacking, blushing. "Sorry. What happened to your hair?"

"I shaved it off before getting tossed in jail." Aaron said. "Speaking of hair, yours is much longer. And didn't you have a cute stutter?"

"Did you just say my stutter was cute?"

"No. You probably noticed the red paint on the road, didn't you?"

Hinata nodded.

"Well, I put it there because your father put a restraining order on me. After you pass that line, I can say hi. Then you can attack me, and I can dodge." Aaron said. "I got better at fighting in prison."

"It sucks you're not in my grade." Hinata said. "You were friends with everyone."

Aaron held up a paper. "I am in the same grade as you," Aaron smiled. "Neji helped me out a lot."

Hinata looked Aaron over now that she knew that he wasn't going to attack her. He wore jeans, sandals, and a long-sleeve black-and-white shirt.

"Should someone who just got out of jail wear that?" Hinata asked.

"We don't actually wear black-and-white stripes, you know. We wear orange jumpsuits." Aaron said, walking towards the school. "I hope I don't hear a lot of prison shower jokes."

"What do you mean by that?" Hinata asked, a bit confused.

"Wow." Aaron said, scratching the back of his head. "You _really_ don't get out much."


	2. Chapter 2

Tsunade looked Aaron over.

"Welcome back." Tsunade said, and Aaron fell over in surprise

"You're not going to talk about how I should stay in line or anything?" Aaron asked.

"Hey, I would've done the same thing." Kurenai shrugged, walking into the room.

"You're positively glowing," Aaron smiled.

"Are you just saying that because I'm the reason you can still go to this school?" Kurenai asked.

"Nooo...Hey, you're pregnant." Aaron said quickly. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Kurenai smiled.

"You'd better hurry. You're missing first period." Tsunade said.

"Thank you." Aaron said, and rushed out of the room.

"He has no idea how things have changed." Tsunade said.

"He'll learn. He's got a good heart, even if he uses his fists to get his way." Kurenai said.

Down the hallway, Aaron was running down the hallway when someone just had walked out, and the two collided, sliding across the floor.

"Ow!" Naruto shouted. "What's your problem!"

"Sorry, dude." Aaron said. "First day back."

"Aaron?" Naruto smiled. "You're back?"

"Does no one read newspapers anymore?" Aaron asked.

"No." Naruto said. "Have fun?"

"In short, no." Aaron said.

"Man, you bulked up." Naruto said.

"Yeah." Aaron shrugged. "What's your first class?"

"Kakashi-sensei's home room." Naruto said.

"No way! We have the same first class!" Aaron smiled, and the two jumped up at the same time. "Race ya'!"

"No way I'm gonna lose!" Naruto said, and the two rushed down the hallway. Aaron made it to the door first, trying the handle. It was locked, however, so when Naruto tried running into the door, thinking Aaron had opened it, he hit the door, nearly breaking it down.

Kakashi lazily opened the door, looking at Aaron and Naruto, who was holding his bleeding nose.

"Good to see you two. Do you have excuses to why you're late?" Kakashi asked.

"I was talking to the principal." Aaron said.

"The pervy sage wouldn't shut up." Naruto lied. He had, in fact, been watching women with Jiraiya after being fooled that it was 'training.'

"The what-y what?" Aaron asked.

"Oh, right! Jiraiya wasn't around when you were here last! He's our sex ed teacher!" Naruto said.

"Uh..." Aaron looked at his classes. "Huh. Sex ed, taught by Mr. Jiraiya...Err, Jiraiya-sensei." Aaron was known to say 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.' instead of the suffix 'prefix.'

"Yep!" Naruto smiled.

"If you're done out there, we were just about to introduce each other." Kakashi said.

"Shouldn't you have done that earlier? School's been started for half-an-hour." Aaron said.

"I had to help an old lady cross the street, so I was late to school." Kakashi said.

Aaron, not knowing Kakashi well, believed him. "Cool. So, where do I sit?"

"Behind your cousin." Kakashi said.

Aaron looked at both Neji and Hinata, who had a seat behind each other. "Which one?"

"You can choose." Kakashi said, and, judging by the way his eye was closed, Aaron thought he was smiling.

Aaron looked at Neji, then Hinata. "Eeeny, meenie, miney, moe..."

"Are you serious?" Naruto asked.

Aaron strolled over to Hinata's seat, saying "Catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers let 'im go, eenie meeny miney moe. My mother told me to pick the very best one, and it is you." Aaron sat behind Hinata.

"How'd you know it would land on Hinata?" Naruto asked, going over it in his head.

"It always ends on the second one." Aaron shrugged. "I figured that out when I was, like, five."

Naruto stood up, sitting behind Neji in the only empty seat, as Kakashi moved to the front of the class.

"Hello students." Kakashi began.

"You didn't even begin class?" Aaron asked.

"Seeing that you left my class only a week after joining it, I'm going to let you learn by yourself that I don't care about rules." Kakashi said. "Hello students, I'm Kakashi-sensei. All of you were in my class before, so you know that." Kakashi mumbled 'follow the rules or whatever' and took his book out. "Talk to whoever."

Aaron looked surprised. "Did he just say we could talk?"

"That's how Kakashi is." Hinata said.

Naruto walked over to Aaron and said "So, how was prison?"

"Oh, you know, fine. It's not like I was IN JAIL OR ANYTHING!" Aaron said.

"That's good." Naruto smiled.

Hinata looked at Aaron, who held up his index finger.

"Let the penny drop." Aaron said.

A second later and Naruto said "Oh. You were in jail."

"How did you graduate?" Aaron asked.

"How'd you?" Naruto asked.

"Neji brought me my work." Aaron said. "I got pretty good grades because all I had to to was exercise and study."

"How did you keep from going insane?" Naruto asked.

"I did go crazy. I snapped in half, man." Aaron twitched his eye, and the three laughed.

"So, what are you going to do now that you're back?" Hinata asked.

"Refrain from punching others in the face. Other than that, live life outside of a freakin' cell." Aaron said, taking his iPod out.

"How'd you get that?" Naruto asked.

"Bought it. I had a job over the summer, dude," Aaron said.

"What did you do?" Hinata asked.

"Played guitar in small gigs around Konoha." Aaron said, like it was no big deal. "I got a pretty good reputation there since I was in jail."

Several of the class, who had been eavesdropping, were surprised.

"Where did you play gigs?" A girl asked.

Aaron answered her question, even though he had no idea who she was. "Bars, a music festival, those kinda places."

"Did you do any drugs?" A boy asked.

"No, since saying yes might land me back in jail and maybe is just too suspicious." Aaron said.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" One girl asked.

"No, but I am fully open to one." Aaron answered with a smile.

"Did you drop the soap?"

"I don't want to go back to prison, but I want to hit whoever said that. Then again, I want to hit whoever said that more than I fear prison." Aaron said.


	3. Chapter 3

Aaron listened to his music, his head down on his desk, as people around him chatted about what they thought had happened to him in jail.

'Looks like a few words started a storm of rumors,' Aaron thought. Then 'That was way too poetic.'

"I bet he shanked someone!"

"I bet he started I riot!"

"The guards would've shot him if he started a riot, idiot."

"Maybe they did and he has a cool scar!"

"How would we know?"

Aaron paused his music, now intent on what a small group of teens were saying. The group was all girl; Sakura, Ino, and Hinata.

'This could get interesting. I had no idea Hinata was a gossip.' Aaron thought.

"Get him to take his shirt off." Sakura said.

"But what if they shot him in the leg?" Hinata asked.

"Then get him to take his pants off!" Sakura said.

"He's my cousin!" Hinata said.

Aaron sat up, turning his music back on. They were going in circles, and Aaron doubted they would ask him to show them his scar.

_'If you say so/ I'll leave home/ I'll leave home.'_ Aaron listened to Dawn of the Dead by Does It Offend You, Yeah? when he felt someone poke his arm.

"C-Can y-you s-show me y-your scar?" Hinata asked, stuttering she was so uncomfortable.

'They roped her into doing it? And why are they so sure I even have a scar?' Aaron wondered. Then, wordlessly, he pulled the collar of his shirt down so that Hinata could see the beginning of a scar.

Hinata blushed, then, silently, sat back down.

"What did you see?" Sakura asked eagerly.

"He's got a scar that wasn't there before." Hinata said.

The two other girls looked at Aaron, wondering what was going on with him.

Aaron noticed Neji and Naruto motioning for him, so he pocketed his iPod and walked over to him, feeling the girl's eyes on his left shoulder.

'Man, what's with girls and scars?' Aaron wondered. He stood beside Neji's desk, and Kakashi lazily noticed him.

"Aaron, why are you standing up?" Kakashi asked.

"Because there's no empty seat near Neji." Aaron answered honestly, then realized he probably sounded like he was trying to be a smartass.

"Oh." Kakashi said. "There's a extra chair with wheels beside my desk. You can use it."

"Much appreciated." Aaron said, and quickly grabbed the chair and rolled over to Neji and Naruto.

"So, why are those girls freaking out?" Neji asked.

"Because I'm so sexy. I mean, I belong in Twilight." Aaron said.

"I don't like Twilight." Naruto said.

"Man, you aren't the brightest bulb." Aaron said. "They came to the conclusion that I had a scar."

"And?" Neji asked.

"Well, I do have a scar..." Aaron said.

"Really!" Naruto shouted.

Aaron rubbed in his ear with a pinky. "Stop shouting. Do you drink coffee or something? You are _way_ too hyper to be human. But yes, I have a scar."

"How'd you get it?" Naruto asked.

"He'll tell you when he wants." Neji said.

"When'll that be?" Naruto asked.

"About an hour after an eternity." Aaron said.

"Why?" Naruto shouted.

"Because you never visited me in jail, you orange bastard!" Aaron said.

"Watch your language, students." Kakashi said.

"Sorry Mr. Kakashi." Aaron said.

"Apologies make it all better." Kakashi said. "And it's Kakashi-sensei."

"Crap." Aaron said, barely keeping himself from cussing.

"That's better." Kakashi said approvingly.

Aaron looked back to Neji and Naruto.

"So, the girls all like you mysterious guys." Naruto sighed. "Whatever."

"Some girl probably likes you." Neji said.

"But the fact that you wear a jumpsuit like I wore in prison probably doesn't attract any girls." Aaron said.

"Hey, quit the orange jokes. You're the one wearing a black-and-white striped shirt like some cartoon prisoner!" Naruto said.

"My shirt isn't that bad!" Aaron said, and took his black-and-white shirt off, revealing a plain white shirt under it. "There!"

"Aaron, I can see your scar." Neji said.

Aaron looked at his arm, seeing that his sleeve was showing his bicep and, by extension, his scar that went from his shoulder to his elbow.


	4. Chapter 4

"Oops," Aaron said, pulling his jacket back on. But, by that time, everyone was asking how he had gotten such a large scar, giving Aaron a headache. As if fate was giving Aaron a hand, the bell rang, and Aaron literally grabbed his items and ran out of the door, flinging it open so that it slammed against the wall.

"Careful with the door." Kakashi said.

"Sorry!" Aaron shouted, still running in the hallway. He smashed into another student, however, and fell backwards.

"Who are you-un?" Deidara asked, then smiled as he noticed who bumped into him. "Aaron-un!"

Aaron looked up and smiled at the blonde. "Hey, Deidara! What's up man?"

Deidara helped Aaron up, and they began to talk.

"Nothing much-un." Deidara said. "How are you?"

"Good," Aaron said. "I've been out of prison for a while. It's been good to be free. Committed any arson lately?"

"Nope," Deidara winked, and they both laughed. Aaron had met Deidara in prison, and he had became best friends with the Akatsuki member. They'd become best friends in prison, a running joke developing between them due to Deidara's insistence that he was innocent. Deidara had been sentenced with arson when, in fact, he had created a bomb of explosive clay. The fire, he had told Aaron, was an unwanted side effect. "Have you made any friends-un?"

"Nah. I met up with my old friends, though." Aaron said. He couldn't help but think of Deidara as an older brother of sorts. Deidara had helped Aaron in prison when he had first moved in, when Aaron was too depressed to even move without Deidara's help.

"Aaron! Get away from him!" Neji shouted, grabbing Aaron's arm. Naruto latched onto his other arm, trying to pull Aaron away.

"What are you two doing?" Aaron asked, not budging.

"You're heavy!" Naruto grunted. "Deidara's in the school gang!"

"School gang?" Aaron wondered. When he had left school, there were no gangs; in fact, the only times the rules had been broken Aaron had seen was Naruto's pranks, and nobody really got hurt.

"We're not really a gang-un." Deidara said. "We wear the same style jackets and sit at the same table."

Aaron noticed Deidara's jacket.

"Nice jacket." Aaron said.

"Yours isn't very good-un," Deidara said. "It looks like prison clothes."

Aaron sighed. "I got that a lot. I took it off, and my scar showed and everyone asked what happened."

"That's always annoying." Deidara agreed. He was about to say something else when the bell rang.

"Aw crap, I gotta go." Aaron said. "See ya', Deidara."

Deidara nodded goodbye and walked the other way. Aaron walked to his class, followed by Neji and Naruto.

"You know Deidara?" Neji asked.

"Are you in the Akatsuki!" Naruto shouted.

"I just got out of prison!" Aaron said. "I couldn't have joined them there! And wouldn't I be wearing one of those awesome jackets?"

Aaron's two friends backed off. "Aaron, I know you just got back and don't know much about them, but I want you to stay away from the Akatsuki." Neji said.

"I wasn't planning on joining them, anyways." Aaron shrugged. "What's our next class?"

"Gym, with Asuma-sensei." Neji said.

"Does he still smoke?" Aaron asked, and Naruto nodded. "Man, he needs to quit. I mean, this is a High School! How is he allowed to smoke?"

"Tsunade shows up drunk every Monday and Friday, so it doesn't seem like much a big deal." Neji said.

Aaron's eyes opened wide. "Tsunade gets drunk?"

"She didn't today because it's the first day of school." Naruto said.

"This school's gone downhill." Aaron sighed, walking into the gym. Immediately, Rock Lee stood in front of the three.

"Hello, Aaron-kun!" Rock Lee said, giving him a thumbs-up and smiling. His teeth shined, and Aaron smiled, nostalgic.

"Hey Lee." Aaron nodded, walking by him. "So, what's gym like this year."

"Because you're late," Asuma said. "You get to be the first to fight."

"Fight?" Aaron asked, surprised. "Don't we just train with dummies?"

"Not anymore! The Eternal Flame of Youth is burning brighter than last year!" Guy shouted.

"Hinata, you can fight Aaron." Asuma said.

"Crap." Aaron murmured.


	5. Chapter 5

"Don't go easy on her!" Naruto shouted from the bleachers.

"Great, an audience." Aaron said, and looked at Asuma. "Mr. Asuma, do I have to fight Hinata?"

"It's Asuma-sensei," Asuma said. "And you do if you don't want to fail."

The second gym teacher, Guy, was standing on the bleachers, shouting about the usual crap; 'Eternal Flame of Youth' this and 'Eternal Flame of Youth' that.

Aaron breathed in, then exhaled. "I'm ready."

"Go." Asuma said. Both Hinata and Aaron's eyes changed, the veins around them appearing clearly. Hinata shot forward, trying to hit Aaron, who dodged each shot like it was easy, then counterattacked, pushing Hinata away.

"What kind of fighting is that?" Naruto shouted.

"The kind one takes when he doesn't want to hurt another," Kabuto said. He was Orochimaru's teacher's pet, and everyone knew it. Still, he was pretty smart, and tutored afterschool.

"Aaron wouldn't hurt Hinata to save his own life," Neji agreed. "He spent time in prison just for the possibility to make her life a little better."

"Maybe he just wanted to hit a guy in the face." Naruto said, and the other two fell down, surprised at how ignorant Naruto was.

Hinata kept trying to hit Aaron, sweating she was working herself so fast, while Aaron dodged, a single bead of sweat rolling down his face. After several minutes, Asuma blew his whistle.

"Aaron, why won't you fight Hinata?" Asuma asked.

"I was raised to believe in chivalry," Aaron lied. Everyone knew it, too; he treated everyone equal. But Asuma wanted to give Aaron a break, and nodded.

"Well, I don't know what it's like in America, so I'll take your word for it." Asuma said. "Kiba, get down here!"

Kiba jumped from the bleachers, his small dog in his jacket.

"Hey Aaron," Kiba said. "Sorry you have to get beat up on your first day back."

Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Sure," Aaron said. "Good luck, dude."

"Go." Asuma said, and Kiba charged. Aaron, still using the byakugan, ducked under him, and, while under him, his hands blurred, moving too fast to see. Kiba, instead of landing on his feet, hit the floor and slid, stopping when he bumped into the wall.

"Twenty-four hit combo." Aaron smiled crookedly, cracking his knuckles. Kiba stood, groaning.

"Damn, Aaron." Kiba smiled, slumping against the wall, as if his body weighed much more than normal. "You got better." Kiba passed out, and Asuma walked over to Aaron, lifting his hand.

"You win," Asuma said. "But, you knocked Kiba out. Students, what's the rule when you knock your opponent out?"

The students, in perfect harmony, recited "If you knock them out, you take them to nurse Shizune."

"Man, this place has changed," Aaron muttered as he picked Kiba up. "Help, anyone?"

"Neji, Naruto, sit down. I know you're best friends with Aaron." Asuma said, and the two sat down. "Anyone else want to help Aaron?"

Sakura and Ino stood at the same time, then glared at each other. Before they could argue, Asuma said "Both of you, help Aaron."

The two walked to Kiba, each grabbing a leg while Aaron grabbed his arms. Once the gym doors had shut behind them, Aaron said "Put him down gently, girls." They did, and Kiba smiled, standing.

"Did you have to hit so hard?" Kiba asked, rolling his shoulder. The girls were surprised, looking at Aaron.

"Did you plan this?" Sakura asked.

"Nope. I'm good at improvisation." Aaron said, and Kiba put his arm around his neck, then lifted his leg.

"Why'd you bring us along?" Ino asked.

"To talk, of course. And I don't know where the nurse is." Aaron admitted, walking with Kiba. Kiba wasn't truly hurt, but saying his ankle was hurt got him out of school for the day. "So, what's up with you girls?"

The two girls blushed, murmuring "Nothing."

After a few steps in silence, Aaron asked "You want to ask about my scar, don't you?"

"Yeah." Sakura admitted.

"Kind of." Ino said.

"It's like a hive mind," Kiba chuckled.

"At least I don't have ticks!" Ino retorted.

"With so much hair you probably do!" Kiba shouted.

"My ear's there!" Aaron said. "Man, you're the loudest unconscious guy ever."

"Been around many?" Kiba asked with a crooked smile.

"I'll go byakugan on you, dude." Aaron threatened.

"No thanks, man. My ribs still hurt." Kiba frowned.


	6. Chapter 6

The students finally arrived at the nurses, and Shizune opened the door.

"Another one?" She sighed, helping Kiba sit down. "Asuma must be making you guys go at it hard."

Kiba snickered, nearly making Aaron laugh.

"Guy-sensei is actually the one who makes up what we do for gym," Sakura said, sitting down, not noticing the student sitting beside her.

"You use the byakugan, Aaron?" The blonde student asked.

"Yeah," Aaron said, looking at Deidara. "Why are you in here?"

"Itachi's a bit sick, and I was the only one of his friends in the class. Why'd you come here with these cute girls instead of Neji and Naruto?" Deidara asked. Both Ino and Sakura smiled, blushing.

"Asuma wouldn't let them come with me," Aaron shrugged. "He thinks I knocked Kiba out, though."

"Teacher right here." Shizune said, and both Deidara and Aaron remembed where htey were. "You should be fine, but it looks like you hurt your ankle. Stay off of it for a week, 'kay?"

"Yes, ma'am." Kiba grinned. Shizune handed him a pair of crutches, and he used them to walk out. Aaron was about to follow him when Deidara put a hand on Aaron's shoulder.

"Come to the bleachers afterschool," he said, and sat back down. Aaron followed the others, shutting the door behind himself, and wondered what Deidara wanted with him at the bleachers. Aaron forgot about it, following the others to the gym.

After gym, Aaron and his friends went to music class. Aaron walked into the room, Naruto immediately jumping behind a drum set. Neji took out a trumpet, and Aaron raised an eyebrow.

"Dude, you learned how to play trumpet?" Aaron asked. Neji nodded.

"We had to learn something," Neji shrugged. Aaron looked around, then walked over to a guitar case. He picked it up, and Naruto spoke.

"You stealing a guitar?" Naruto asked.

"Nope. It's mine, dude. I had it put here." Aaron said, laying it down. "Heard I had music." Aaron opened the case, smiling at the black Les Paul. "Last time I used my baby was in front of a whole bunch of guys at a concert."

"You know you're the only guitarist, right?" Ino asked, sitting by Sakura. Both held a flute, and had been arguing who was the better player. It annoyed those around them, but what could they do?

Aaron looked at the whole class, realizing that he was, indeed, alone in his six-string passion.

"Doesn't Itachi play guitar?" Naruto asked, banging on his drums.

"Shut up!" Neji said.

"Huh," Aaron said, strumming on his guitar. Once the amp had heated up and began working, he started jamming quickly, amazing the others in the class. "So, who are in the Akatsuki?"

"A whole bunch of dudes that could get any girl they wanted," Naruto said. "There's Sasori. He has a thing for puppets. Kisame has blue skin."

"Shark skin." Neji corrected, and Naruto tossed a drumstick at his head. Neji ducked, and, as Naruto got the drumstick back, kept telling Aaron about the Akatsuki. "There's Zetsu, the plant-lover, Hidan, the potty-mouth."

"'Potty mouth'?" Aaron asked.

"Shut up." Neji said. "Kakuzu, the cheapskate, Pain, the leader-"

"And anorexic!" Naruto said, sitting back down at his drums.

"Tobi, the idiot, and there's Konan," Neji continued.

"She's a babe." Naruto smiled.

"And, of course, Deidara and Itachi." Neji said. "They all wear the same black jackets with red clouds."

"There's also a rumor that Orochimaru-sensei was in the Akatsuki." Ino said.

"Orochi-what?" Aaron asked.

"He's a new teacher. Teaches history and-" Neji was cut off by a man who walked into the room.

"Hello, students." He hissed. "I am Orochimaru-sensei. Now, I've heard rumors that a jailbird is in our class. He will likely sleep in class, show up late, and act crude. Ignore him, as I will."

"I'm right here," Aaron said, trying not to laugh along with Naruto and Neji.

"Oh." Orochimaru said, then "Hm. A guitarist."

To put it simply, this teacher gave Aaron the creeps.


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as the bell rang, Aaron wiped his guitar strings off, put his guitar case against the wall, and ran out of the room as fast as he could. Orochimaru had looked at him all period, focusing singularly on Aaron. Aaron knew that Orochimaru was his last period teacher and he'd have to spend another hour with him, but he ignored that fact.

Eventually, Neji and Naruto caught up to Aaron, and Aaron slowed down.

"Man, Orochimaru-sensei sure had his eye on you." Naruto chuckled.

"Nothing has ever made me want to quit playing guitar so much," Aaron said, shivering at the memory.

"I guess you're the new Sasuke." Neji said.

"Huh?" Aaron asked, then remembered that Sasuke wasn't in any of his classes. "Where is that guy? Finally move up a grade?"

"He started getting homeschooled," Neji said.

"Orochimaru-sensei's been trying to find a new Sasuke for a while. Guess he likes-" Naruto was cut off by Aaron, who covered his mouth.

"Another prison shower joke," Aaron said through clenched teeth. "And I'll give you a scar worse than mine."

"How did you get that scar?" Neji asked, leaning against a wall.

"I thought you were the one saying that I'd tell you when I wanted!" Aaron said.

"Well, we've been telling you facts all day when we've had no idea what it was like in prison." Neji said.

"I met Deidara in prison, I exercised a lot, and I wanted free." Aaron said. Before his friends could protest, the bell rang, and Aaron rushed down the hallway. He walked into the class, and, seeing a spot near Hinata with no other empty seats for Neji and Naruto to sit in and ask him questions, sat in it.

"Hey Aaron," Hinata smiled. "Aren't you going to sit near Neji or Naruto?"

"They're asking too many questions," Aaron said. Once Neji and Naruto walked in, taking a seat at the last two seats in the class, Kurenai walked in. "Wait, isn't she on maternity leave?" Aaron groaned as he realized that, not only had Kurenai gotten him into the school by vouching for his kindness, but was his teacher. His Health teacher, with Sex Ed written on the board. Aaron also noticed that, sitting around him, were Ino, Sakura, Hinata, and Temari. Aaron had a small crush on Temari when she had first moved to Konoha, but her "freaky-ass" (to quote Aaron at the time) brother Gaara kept him from asking her out.

"Hello students," Kurenai said. "I am not on maternity leave, as Aaron thought."

Aaron slid down in his seat.

"As you all know, this class is Sexual Education, or Sex Ed." Kurenai continued.

Aaron slid down in his seat even more, his face red.

"Today, I will show you a few pictures..."

Aaron had disappeared behind Ino, his knees nearly touching her desk.

'Let me die,' he thought. 'The only thing that could make this worse was if Mrs. Kurenai would make me go to the front of the room and use me as an example of the male physique. Wait, is it Ms. Kurenai or Mrs. Kurenai? Whatever.'

"Men generally have thicker muscles than women," Kurenai said. "Now, which one of you strong men would like to come up here?"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Naruto shouted, and Aaron calmed a bit. Maybe Naruto would get up in front of the class and they wouldn't make him go up there.

"Aaron exercised all year and stuff! He's got big muscles!" Naruto shouted.

"Alright," Kurenai said. "Aaron, come on up."

Aaron glared at Naruto as he walked up to the front of the class.

"Now, what woman would like to come up?" Kurenai asked as Aaron stood at the front of the class, pretending he wasn't there. Both Ino and Sakura raised their hands, eager to be near Aaron. "Ino." Kurenai said, and the blone came up to the front of the class, smiling at Aaron.

Naruto and Neji were snickering, looking at Aaron.

"Alright, now, take off that jacket, Aaron." Kurenai said. Aaron did as she said, and Kurenai frowned for a second when she saw his scar. She quickly covered it up with a smile, however, and said "Now, show some muscle."

Aaron lifted his arms, flexing his muscle, and the girls all blushed, having no idea Aaron was _that_ muscular.

"Good. You really bulked up. Now, Ino, flex your muscles." Kurenai said. Ino did so with a smile, and several of the boys whistled, clapped, and made other sounds showing that they all, indeed, thought Ino was hot.

"You can sit now," Kurenai said. Aaron sat back in his desk, putting his head down on the cold desk. Of course, the girls all started asking about his scar and how he got so muscular.

'Mrs. Kurenai, you got me back to school just to torture me?' Aaron thought.


	8. Chapter 8

History class with Orochimaru was...uncomfortable, to say the least. Orochimaru moved Aaron to the front seat, right by his desk, and started the class cheerier than usual.

"Today, students, we will learn about the history of America." Orochimaru said, glancing at Aaron. He wrote George Washington on the board, then spouted about how he had singlehandedly killed a whole army, never been shot, and created America. Aaron would've pointed out that about eighty percent of his facts were complete crap, but was too tired to care.

"Wait, so when did he write the Declaration of Independence?" Sakura asked.

"It doesn't matter," Orochimaru admitted, not planning on grading anything the students turned anyway. He'd just put "A+" on Aaron's paper and "B" on everyone else's. The bell rang and Aaron got ready to run to the hall like he'd stolen something when Orochimaru said "Aaron, I need to speak to you after class."

"I hope, for you, this isn't as bad as a prison shower." Neji said.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, dead serious. Aaron nodded, sitting back down in his seat, and tried not to look Orochimaru in the eye.

"Do you remember what I said at the beginning of the year?" Orochimaru asked.

"You mean earlier today?" Aaron asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry. I was completely wrong," Orochimaru said, running his tongue along his lips. "Do you forgive me?"

"Err...Sure, Mr. Orochimaru." Aaron said, looking at his desk.

"Mr. Orochimaru? Hm. I like it. It's very...American," Orochimaru said. Before the conversation could get any creepier, Deidara knocked on the door.

"Aaron, we've gotta go-un." Deidara said, glaring at Orochimaru.

Aaron almost ran out of the door.

"See ya', Mr. Orochi-" Orochimaru didn't hear the rest of Aaron's words as Deidara shut the door.

"Thank you, you blonde-haired, blue-eyed, explosion-obsessed angel!" Aaron shouted. "That teacher's a freak."

"I know-un," Deidara said. "Neji and Naruto said that he'd trapped you-un. Can't go to the bleachers today, though-un. Itachi got worse after you left, and he's one of the main members-un."

"It's okay," Aaron shrugged. "See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." Deidara nodded, and patted Aaron on the back. He walked over to a red-haired guy, with brown eyes looking directly at Aaron. Aaron looked at the teen, and looked forward just as Hinata turned a corner.

"Hey Hinata," Aaron smiled, and Hinata noticed him.

"Oh. Hey Aaron," Hinata smiled. "You going home?"

'That was a stupid question,' Hinata thought. 'School's over. Of course he's going home.'

"To my apartment, anyways." Aaron said.

"Apartment?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, right, you don't know I live alone." Aaron said. "Want to come to my apartment?"

"Uh...Sure," Hinata said. Her parents always told her to get out of her house, and they'd be happy she went to her friend's house. She'd leave out that he was a boy and that he was Aaron, though.

Fifteen minutes later, Aaron opened his apartment door, Hinata standing behind him.

"And this," Aaron said, "is my home."

Hinata was expecting a crappy, small apartment when, in fact, Aaron's apartment was rather large and full of interesting things.

"How do you afford this place?" Hinata asked.

"The money I get from my band," Aaron said, smiling at a poster with him playing guitar.

"How big is the band?"

"In Japan? Not so much. In America, everybody listens to us. We did a whole bunch of secret shows after I got out of the joint around Konoha, to get our name out." Aaron said.

"Why didn't you mention that?" Hinata asked.

"I got enough rumors going without mentioning I'm famous in America," Aaron said, taking his jacket off and sitting down on a couch. Hinata sat beside him, looking at his scar. To her credit, she tried not to. "You want to ask about the scar, right?"

"Yes," Hinata admitted. Aaron, finding it impossible to directly say no to Hinata, sighed.

"Don't tell anyone," Aaron said. "Promise, and I'll tell you."

"Alright." Hinata said.


	9. Chapter 9

Aaron walked into the school, noticing a rather large crowd in front of a piece of paper on the wall. What alarmed him, however, was that the paper had his name on it. Aaron made his way through the crowd and read the paper, eyebrow raised. It read:

'Aaron White.

Hair Color: Brown.

Eye Color: White.

Favorite Food: Mexican.

Favorite Band: Bad Religion.

Girls He Finds Hot: He finds good things about every girl. Especially Temari.

Bio: After punching Hiashi Hyuga in the face, he was put in jail. After leaving, he was a guitarist in an extremely popular band from America. Now, he's back and ready for a Japanese girl.

Notes: He won't hit you in the face, ladies. Promise.'

Aaron blushed as he realized that all the students around the board were girls. And were all looking at him, giggling. Once Aaron heard Neji and Naruto burst out laughing, however, he activated byakugan and whirled around, looking directly at them.

"Run!" Naruto shouted, pushing Neji forward. Aaron smiled to himself, deactivating the byakugan, and took out his iPod, choosing the song 'News From The Front' by Bad Religion.

'At least they had their facts right,' Aaron thought, walking out of the crowd. He bumped straight into Deidara, who had been reading the paper on the board.

"'Ready for a Japanese girl'-un?" Deidara quoted.

"I swear, I had nothing to do with that." Aaron said, shrugging. "Naruto and Neji did it."

"Aren't you going to tear it down-un?"

"Not really. I mean, it's been seen by almost everybody, and it'll probably be told to the whole school by fourth period, if it even takes that long." Aaron said. "Anyways, what's up with you?"

"Just reading the least-subtle-" Aaron cut Deidara off before he could finish.

"Other than that," he said.

"I was going to see the others-un. Want to tag-along-un?" Deidara asked. Aaron was on the fence about it, but, once he saw Orochimaru walking into the school, quickly nodded.

"Could we hurry there, though?" Aaron asked.

"Sure-un." Deidara said.

Soon, they walked to a closed door. The small window in the door had been covered by paper, like many teachers did to avoid their students looking out into the hallway.

"That sucks," Aaron said.

Deidara took a key out, unlocking the door. Once he opened it, Aaron saw several students talking. They all wore black hoodies with red clouds on them, and all were older than Aaron. They stopped conversing, however, when Deidara cleared his throat.

"This is Aaron White, the guy I've been talking about." Deidara smiled.

"Hey," Aaron said. He saw the teenager with red hair, but didn't know any of the others.

"Hello," one said. He was red-haired as well, but his hair was longer and straight. His face was skinny, but Aaron couldn't see his body under the hoodie. He looked to have violet eyes, but Aaron didn't focus on eyes much. "It's nice to meet you. I heard you went to prison with Deidara."

"Yeah," Aaron said.

"And I heard you're a good fighter. I'm Pain," the red-haired man said.

Two more walked in, chatting. They were twins, Aaron noticed, but barely looked alike. One was tan while the other was deathly pale; they both had the same haircut and eyes, however.

"These two are Zetsu." Pain said.

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Who is Zetsu?"

"I'm Zet," the light-skinned one said.

"And I'm Su." The darker one said.

"Sue?" Aaron asked, and the darker one growled.

"Yeah, idiot. Su." Su said.

Each of the Akatsuki said their name, and Aaron memorized each of them. Before they could actually begin to talk, however, the bell rang.

"Crap," Aaron said. "Later?"

"Later," Pain nodded.

'They're not so bad,' Aaron thought.


	10. Chapter 10

Aaron walked into Kakashi's room, even though the teacher had yet to arrive. Several looked at him, chuckling and giggling, and Aaron sighed. Looks like it didn't even take until first period for the news to spread of his two best friend's joke to spread to everybody in his class. Aaron began walking to his seat only to stop, seeing that his seat was taken by a new student.

"Um, you're in my seat." Aaron said. The student in his seat looked up, glaring at the white-eyed ex-prisoner.

"It's mine now." The student said.

"Alright then," Aaron shrugged.

"You aren't going to fight for your seat?"

"It's a seat. It's not like it matters."

"Hm." The student said. "I thought an ex-convict would fight for what he wants."

"Who are you?" Aaron asked.

"Sasuke Uchiha." The student said as Kakashi walked in, holding a mug of coffee.

"Good to see you back, Sasuke." Kakashi said. "I had to grade your papers, so I was late."

"We haven't done any work." Aaron said. "And how do you drink that coffee with a mask on?"

"It seems you have no seat," Kakashi said, sitting at his desk. "You can have the rolling chair."

Aaron took a step toward the chair with wheels when, suddenly, Naruto jumped onto it, shouting "You can have my seat! I get the rolling chair!" He almost knocked Aaron down, but Aaron balanced himself before he completely lost balance.

"You could've just asked," Aaron said, taking a seat by Neji as Naruto spun around in the chair. After getting fairly dizzy, Naruto kicked the chair over to his friends, and they began talking.

"Like the note I put on the board?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"It was his idea," Neji shrugged.

"I feel like hitting you two very, very hard." Aaron said, then smiled. "But it was pretty funny."

They all laughed at that, and, once they all stopped to take a breath, Neji asked "So, Aaron, are you going to get a girlfriend?"

"I have no clue." Aaron admitted. "I'm not going to go out of my way for one, but, if a girl comes to me, I guess I'll be her boyfriend."

"You gotta get back in the game, dude!" Naruto said. "Try out for sports or something. The girls are already interested in you."

"Why?" Aaron asked.

"You've got a dark side!"

"No I don't. I hit a man in the face for a good reason."

"You've also got a good heart!" Naruto said.

"Naruto, shut up. I might catch your stupid." Aaron said.

"Anyways," Neji said, keeping the two from continuing. "You should go to one of the games."

"What games do you have in Japan?" Aaron asked. He was never interested in sports, and neglected to learn anything about Japan when he moved from America.

"There's football and baseball teams here," Naruto said.

"Football, huh? With helmets?" Aaron asked.

"No. That's American football," Neji said.

"We kick a black and white ball around. We don't use our hands, and we can headbutt the ball." Naruto said, acting like Aaron was a rather stupid child.

"Soccer?" Aaron asked.

"I think that's what the Americans call it." Neji nodded.

"What are our teams called?" Aaron asked.

"The Minato Sluggers and The Konoha Kyubi." Neji said.

"Bet'cha can't guess which is which!" Naruto said.

"Seriously, how did he pass?" Aaron asked, and Neji shrugged. Aaron shook his head, saying "The Minato sluggers are the baseball team, The Konoha Kyubi are the soccer team."

"Football." Neji said.

"Shut up." Aaron said. "When's the next game?"

"Friday," Naruto said. "I'm on the football team."

"Isn't it out of season?" Aaron asked.

"No," Naruto said.

Knowing nothing of sports, Aaron shrugged. "I'll go if Neji goes."

"I'm in the football team, too," Neji said.

"I'll cheer for you." Aaron said.

"Get a girlfriend first," Naruto said.

"Shuddup." Aaron said.


	11. Chapter 11

Aaron sat in the bleachers with the other students while Guy took a bundle of index cards out.

"These, students," Asuma said. "Have your names on them. After shuffling them, we'll take two out and those two students will fight."

"So, Sasuke's back?" Aaron asked Naruto.

"Sasuke's back!" Naruto shouted, interrupting Asuma. "Sorry Asuma-sensei!"

"Yes, he's back." Aaron said. "Do you think I sat beside you, breaking the rules, because I felt like it?"

"Yeah," Naruto admitted.

"Sasuke," Asuma said, holding the index card up. He pulled another one out and said "Aaron. You two fight."

Naruto and Neji looked alarmed, but Aaron just shrugged as he walked down to the middle of the gym. Sasuke was standing, arms crossed, waiting for him with a look of...discontent? Aaron couldn't place what Sasuke's emotion was.

"No killing each other, and try not destroying the gym." Asuma said. "G-"

Sasuke shot forward, lightning around his fist, and Aaron didn't even have time to activate his byakugan, clumsily rolling to the left. Sasuke spun around, throwing three kunai, and Aaron barely had time to run to the side of each one. The last pinned his jacket to the bleacher, and Aaron, realizing he only had time for one or the other, activated his byakugan instead of taking his jacket off.

Sasuke used the chidori sharp spear, but Aaron saw it coming, and climbed up the bleachers, ripping his jacket. Aaron jumped down at Sasuke from the bleachers, not much of a plan other than 'don't get killed' in his head. Aaron landed right in front of Sasuke, his arms blurring, and Sasuke slid backwards.

"Fourteen-hit-!" Aaron flew backwards as Sasuke hit him with another chidori, slamming against the bleachers. Aaron fell forward, holding his stomach, and Asuma ran forward.

"Aaron, are you okay?" Asuma asked, making the American show him his stomach. There was a bad burn, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been. "Sasuke, take him to the nurse."

Sasuke did as he said, and, once the door was shut, Aaron finally spoke.

"Damn this hurts," Aaron said.

"It could've been worse." Sasuke said. No other words were spoken as Aaron was taken to Shizune's office. Once there, Sasuke left immediately after Aaron was laid down on the nurse's table. Aaron fell asleep, drained from the short fight, only to awake with gauze on his stomach and the clock reading that he woke up just in time for health class.

Aaron sat up slowly, Shizune helping him up.

"Sasuke got me good, huh?" Aaron chuckled. "Am I good to go, or do I have to miss school?"

"You'll be fine, but I'd prefer that you stay away from Sasuke." Shizune said. "You won't be able to fight as well as you used to until you heal without hurting yourself, so you won't have to fight in gym. You might also have a scar."

Aaron stood, and Shizune gave him a short-sleeved black t-shirt.

"Your jacket and shirt were ruined," Shizune explained.

"Insult to injury." Aaron said, pulling the shirt on. He walked to the gym to gather his things for class, then went to health class. From several looks he got from students, he deciphered that the student body thought that he was either in a morgue or wasn't coming back to school anytime soon.

Once he got to Kurenai's class, the bell had rung and class had begun (Aaron was very, very sore and had to take a lot of time walking.) Aaron knocked on the door, and Hinata got up to answer it, even though Sasuke was closest to the door (having forced Tenten from her seat.) Sasuke looked in the door, his expression blank, and Aaron wondered if he should hit him like he hit Hiashi. Once Hinata opened the door, Aaron decided against it.

"Aaron! I thought you died!" Naruto shouted.

"You think lightning can kill me? I was built stronger than that," Aaron smiled, limping into the room. "Thanks for opening the door. I don't know why they lock the doors in a school of ninja, but whatever."

"How are you doing," Kurenai asked.

"Fine," Aaron said. "I'll heal soon. I hope."

"I heard about that message in the front lobby, by the way." Kurenai said.

'God, please kill me now.' Aaron thought.

"Neji and Naruto did it, didn't they?" Kurenai asked.

"How'd you know?" Naruto shouted.

"You signed the back of the paper, Naruto." Kurenai said.

"Naruto, you're so stupid sometimes I wonder why I'm in class with you." Aaron laughed, patting the blonde on the back.


	12. Chapter 12

Aaron walked up to the soccer field on Friday night, hands in his pockets. He wore a white t-shirt with the words 'Not interested' printed above a picture of Cloud from Final Fantasy. Aaron walked up to the ticket booth, smiling at Hinata.

"Ticket for one," Aaron said. Hinata blushed, gave him his ticket, and took his ryo. Aaron walked over to the bleachers, looking for anyone he knew, when Deidara walked over to him, putting an arm around his neck.

"Hey Aaron-un!" Deidara smiled. "Come and sit with the other Akatsuki."

Aaron thought that made it sound like he was in the Akatsuki, but ignored it, following Deidara up the bleachers to where every one of the Akatsuki sat.

"Hello, Aaron." Pain nodded, sipping a soda while looking at the white-eyed ex-convict. The game was yet to start, so everyone had time to meet their friends, buy snacks, and get a seat.

"Pain." Aaron nodded, taking a seat by Deidara.

"I heard you fought Sasuke," Itachi said. Aaron was surprised by Itachi's question, as that meant news of the fight had gotten to the older students in Konoha High.

"And got knocked out," Kisame said.

"I didn't lose consciousness," Aaron said. "But I did fall asleep."

"Hm." Itachi said. Suddenly, the sound of several feet was heard, and the team charged out, wearing yellow outfits.

"Why yellow?" Aaron asked.

"Minato, the fourth hokage, was known as the yellow flash. Our school colors are yellow, since our school is named after him." Pain explained.

"It is?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah-un. It's Minato Namikaze High-un," Deidara said.

"I thought it was just Konoha High," Aaron admitted.

"That's what everyone calls it." Konan said. "It's easier than saying the whole name."

Aaron saw Neji and Naruto on the field, as well as Hinata looking around the bleachers for a place to sit.

"Yo, can Hinata sit with me?" Aaron asked.

"Why not-un? She's kind of cute-un," Deidara said.

"She's my cousin!" Aaron said while waving. Just as Hinata saw him, Deidara spoke.

"Distant cousin-un," Deidara smiled deviously. Hinata walked up the bleachers to Aaron, sitting beside him. She noticed that he was sitting with the Akatsuki, but wanted to be with Aaron more than she didn't want to be with the Akatsuki.

"What's up, Hinata?" Aaron asked. Hinata shrugged, and Aaron asked "So, who are we against?"

"Sunagakure-un," Deidara answered. "They've got some good players-un. Gaara and Kankuro, if I remember right-un."

"Wait, they moved?" Aaron asked, remembering that he'd only saw their sister in his classes.

"They moved back," Pain said. "They were all Sunagakure exchange students."

"T-Temari stayed," Hinata said, shy in the presence of the gang she'd been taught was no good.

"She did, didn't she-un?" Deidara smiled.

"Wonder why." Kisame said. Aaron noticed that he had a rectangle on his back, connected to him by white bandages. Aaron would've asked why when, suddenly, a giant whooshing sound came from the field. Aaron quickly looked to the field, seeing a large half-circle. A soccer ball shot from the half-circle, almost hitting the other net when a wave of sand hit it from the air, making it land in front of Gaara.

"What kind of soccer is this?" Aaron asked, shocked.

"This is football-un," Deidara corrected.

"And it's the best kind." Kisame said. Another figure ran up the stairs, shouting nonsense, and hugged Aaron, picking the white-eyed teenager off of the ground.

"Tobi has new friends!" Tobi shouted, wearing a mask.

"Wha-?" Aaron began when Tobi hugged him once more before dropping him and then patting Hinata on the head.

"Pretty girl." Tobi said to Hinata, and sat on the stairs.

"He was sick whenever you met us," Pain said. "That's Tobi."

"I know. He shouted his name about eighty times." Aaron said, sitting back down beside Hinata. He looked at the other bleachers, seeing Temari on the other side, and wondered something. Deidara noticed him looking at her, and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Word is that she stayed in Konoha High for a boy-un," Deidara said.

"G-Gaara and t-the others l-left right a-after you d-did." Hinata added.

"Pretty girl had speech impediment! Like Deidara-senpai!" Tobi said.

Deidara's eye twitched, and, suddenly, he tackled Tobi.

"It's not a speech impediment-un!" Deidara shouted. Though he denied it, there was a rumor that Deidara had gone to speech classes when he was younger. It was unlikely, but the rumor still angered Deidara.


	13. Chapter 13

As everyone sat, watching the football game, Tobi suddenly shouted "Tobi and friends need to go! Itachi's little br-!" Then, all at once, several things happened. The Akatsuki all used jutsu to disappear, with Tobi grabbing Hinata and disappearing, while Aaron looked around, confused. A moment later, the bleachers seemed to explode, sending Aaron flying through the air, and the Konoha Kyubi scored another goal.

Aaron had no thoughts in his head while he was in the air, too confused to think. But, as soon as he hit the field and pain shot through his body, he quickly had too many thoughts to process. What had just happened? Where were the others? How badly injured was I?

The Akatsuki appeared beside Aaron, who was staring at the night sky, and Hinata ran to his side.

"Aaron, are you okay?" Hinata asked.

Aaron looked at her and smiled. "Just fine. Am I hurt?"

Hinata looked him over. "N-No."

"Oh, that's good." Aaron said, then snapped back to reality, quickly standing and looking around. "Deidara, what just happened?"

"Something like an explosion-un." Deidara said, and then they all saw Sasuke walk out from the darkness of the night.

"I'm here to kill you, Itachi." Sasuke said, his voice cold.

Naruto and Neji ran to Aaron's side as he activated his byakugan. "You're not getting to anybody without fighting me, Sasuke," Aaron said, knowing that his friends had his back. "I've got a score to settle."

"I don't care about you." Sasuke said. "I only care about Itachi."

"You'd better start caring," Aaron said, running at Sasuke. Sasuke shot fire at him, but Naruto used three clones to attack Sasuke, hitting Sasuke in the face and causing the Uchiha Clan member to shoot fire into the sky. Sasuke destroyed the clones with a few attacks with a kunai, and Neji attacked, distracting him while Aaron got behind him. Aaron attacked, his hands a blur, and Sasuke flew towards Neji, who kicked him against the fence around the field, his body hitting the fence ad making it rattle.

"Sixty-four hit combo. A new personal best," Aaron smiled, high-fiving his friends. Sasuke stood, however, and Aaron made the mistake of looking him in the eye.

"Demon Illusion: Shackling Stakes." Sasuke said, and Aaron screamed. Hinata ran towards Sasuke, trying to hit him, and Sasuke caught her fist. "Should've used the byakugan," Sasuke said, and twisted her arm, causing her to bend down in pain. He stopped using genjutsu on Aaron, who looked at him with pained eyes.

Then, doubled over, sweat running down his face, smiled.

"That all," Aaron grinned, "or ya' got more? Take him out, Itachi."

"Wha-!" Sasuke was cut off when Itachi hit him very hard in the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious. Aaron stood up straight, rolling his shoulders, and walked over to Hinata.

"Are you okay?" Aaron asked, helping her up.

"I-I'm fine." Hinata said, something about Aaron making her return to her previous speech problems. "A-Are you o-okay?"

"I'm good," Aaron said. "I can take more pain than Sasuke can dish out."

"That was awesome!" Naruto shouted, high-fiving Aaron. "Dude, you took that genjutsu crap like a man! You're gonna have no problems getting a girl now!"

"Why do you want me to get a girlfriend so much?" Aaron asked when he realized that he was being filmed by the local news. He hid his face with his hand while looking for the Akatsuki, who had disappeared. Sasuke, however, was still knocked out by the fence, and two teachers, Kakashi and Asuma, appeared on each side of him.

"He had so much potential," Asuma said, exhaling cigarette smoke.

"Hey, is Sasuke going to prison?" Aaron asked.

"Probably." Kakashi said.

"Ouch. That place sucks." Aaron said, and turned around just in time for the reporters to take a perfect photo of him.

'Damn it,' Aaron thought.

"Bet you can even get Temari now!" Naruto said, still hyped up. "I mean, you knocked out Sasuke!"

"You helped, dude, and so did Itachi and Neji." Aaron said. "Where's Itachi, anyways?"

"Whenever there's cameras, the Akatsuki disappear." Neji said. "Fact of life."

Aaron shrugged. They'd be at school Monday.

"So, who are you going to ask out?" Naruto asked.

"I'M NOT LOOKING FOR A GIRLFRIEND!" Aaron said. Somebody whistled, and Naruto muttered something about how Coach Guy wanted them out of the spotlight, and he and Neji ran off, leaving Aaron alone in the middle of the field. Aaron began walking off, only to be stopped by Gaara and Kankuro.

"Do I know you?" Kankuro asked.

"Depends," Aaron said.

"Are you the one Temari has a crush on?" Kankuro asked. The thought made Aaron's heart beat faster.

'Guess I still have feeling for her,' Aaron thought.

"Dunno," Aaron shrugged. "But I won't be seeing you around. Different schools and all that."

"We're moving back to Konoha." Gaara spoke. "And if we see you near Temari, we'll kill you."

Aaron gulped, and walked back to his apartment wondering what his fight with Sasuke would bring.


	14. Chapter 14

Aaron walked into the school, reading a newspaper's front page. It read

**"Former Juvenile Delinquent Fights Sasuke Uchiha.**

** During a peaceful football game, a bleacher exploded. Aaron White (guitarist of Suterusu) flew, landing without injury onto the field. Sasuke walked from the north of the field, and..."**

It had surprisingly little errors, with quotes from several of the students in Aaron's classes. Aaron listened to his iPod as he walked the halls, still wondering what would happen now that the whole school had seen him beat up Sasuke Uchiha. He was fairly sure that Sakura and Ino would send him death threats, and Naruto would insist he should get a girlfriend, but, other than that, Aaron didn't know what to expect.

Aaron turned off his iPod after putting his binder down in his seat that had previously been stolen by Sasuke, dryly thinking 'Sasuke won't be using it.'

"It's the big hero!" Naruto shouted, jumping over several rows of desks for no reason. "C'mon dude, follow me."

"Why?" Aaron asked, though he was fairly sure he knew the answer.

"I'm gonna get you a date!" Naruto said, dragging Aaron towards the door. Aaron sighed and followed him. While walking down the hallway, Naruto looking at every girl to pass by, Naruto said "What's with the shirts with quotes from video games and TV?"

Aaron looked down at his shirt, reading the quote 'I've covered war stories, ya' know' from Frank West in Dead Rising.

"Haters gonna hate," Aaron muttered. Naruto stopped walking when he saw Temari walked past.

"Go for it, dude." Naruto said.

"Nope," Aaron said, and quickly made a hand sign. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and Naruto frowned.

"Coward." Naruto said.

Aaron appeared in Kakashi's class room, a few inches from Hinata. Their faces were almost touching, and Hinata's face turned completely red as they looked into each other's eyes, though Aaron had much more shock in his.

"Oops." Aaron said, and disappeared again. He reappeared once more in front of the Akatsuki's class room. Aaron had asked around, finding out that the classroom had no teacher assigned to it; in fact, none of the staff had a key for it. Aaron knocked on the door, saying "Deidara, can I come in?"

"Sure-un." Deidara said, and the door opened. "Hey, put this on-un." Deidara handed Aaron a small white box, and Aaron raised an eyebrow. Nevertheless, the ex-convict opened the box, surprised to see a black zip-up hoodie with red clouds.

"Huh?" Aaron asked.

"Put it on-un." Deidara said.

"Does this mean I'm in the Akatsuki?" Aaron asked.

"Of course," Pain said. Aaron put the jacket on, though he didn't zip it up, so that people could see his shirt.

"It looks good on you-un!" Deidara laughed.

"Looks like we have a young Akatsuki member, Nagato." Konan said.

"Yep." Pain said. "Sorry we ran off yesterday, Aaron. We aren't exactly liked by the majority of people."

Aaron shrugged. "I don't know why. You guys are pretty cool."

"Thank you." Pain said.

"Hey, does white-eyes have a girlfriend?" Tobi asked. A vein in Deidara's head pulsed, and he tackled Tobi.

"We're in the Akatsuki-un! We don't talk about girlfriends-un!" Deidara shouted. Aaron pulled him off of Tobi, who sat back up.

"White-eyes is nice. Should have girlfriend." Tobi said.

"No, I don't have a girlfriend." Aaron sighed. "Everybody wants me to get one, though. It's really weird."

"Not really." Kisame said, taking the giant rectangle off of his back. He laid it on the ground, popped open the latches, and took out a black bass guitar. Aaron fell over with surprise. "Expecting something different?" Kisame asked, taking a bass pick out and playing 'Ace of Spades' by Motorhead.

"A little," Aaron admitted, standing back up.

"Good to see you all," a familiar voice hissed, and Aaron shivered as he turned around.

"H-Hello, Mr. O-Orochimaru." Aaron stuttered.

"White-eyes sound like pretty white-eyes girl." Tobi noted, and Deidara resisted the urge to kick him in the stomach.


	15. Chapter 15

"Hello Orochimaru-sensei," Pain said. Aaron wondered why most of the Akatsuki didn't talk, deciding that they didn't because there were just so damn many of them. That, and they all thought they were in a secretive, dark gang, so they acted mysterious.

"Nagato," Orochimaru nodded, eyes still on Aaron. "I was sure that this class was supposed to be empty."

"Yet we have student desks, a teacher's desk, and working lights," Kisame said.

"This school never was cost efficient." Itachi said.

The bell rang, and Aaron silently thanked the powers-that-be, running past Orochimaru. The teacher tried to stop Aaron with his hand, but the ex-convict ducked under his hand, and, once out the door, ran full-speed to Kakashi's classroom. He met Kakashi at the door, both of them a few minutes late.

"I had to mow the old lady across the street's lawn." Kakashi lied.

"I had to help a single-mother with her newborn baby get to their apartment room," Aaron lied.

"How'd it work out?"

"Pretty well."

Kakashi eye-smiled, letting the student walk into the room.

"You're late!" Naruto shouted.

"No shouting." Kakashi said nonchalantly. "Aaron had to help a fellow Konoha citizen, so he can be late."

"I thought you didn't play favorites!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto, stop shouting." Kakashi said, sitting in his seat and picking up his book. "You can all talk to Aaron about how cool that fight against Sasuke was."

On cue, almost everybody in the class turned to talk, all at once, to Aaron. Aaron had been prepared, however, putting his iPod ear buds in and listening to Bad Religion's 'Against The Grain' with his eyes closed. Somebody poked him on his shoulder, however, and Aaron opened his eyes to see Tenten standing near him.

Aaron paused his music and asked "What's up?"

"Well," Tenten thought best how to ask Aaron her question. "You're a good guitarist, right?"

"I like to think so." Aaron said.

"Can you teach Sakura how to play a song for the talent show?" Tenten asked.

Aaron raised an eyebrow, and Tenten was sure that he was going to say no. Instead, Aaron asked "Konoha is having a talent show the second week of school? Huh. Anyways, I'll do it. When and where?"

"After school, at Hinata's house. She's the bassist." Tenten said, and Aaron winced.

"I, uh, can't go there." Aaron said. "Restraining order."

"Why do you have a restraining order?" Tenten asked.

"You mean you don't know why I left Konoha High last year?"

Tenten frowned. She hated being out of the loop. "No," she said.

"I hit Hinata's dad in the face. I can't go within fifty feet of the guy." Aaron said. "How about we play in the gym? I'm sure we can get Guy to say yes if we say some crap about Eternal Flames of Youth."

Tenten smiled. "Thanks," she said, pecking Aaron on the cheek.

'Great,' Aaron thought as he heard the students around him start chattering about what had just happened. 'More rumors.'

After first period, Aaron walked to the gym, wondering who would fight who. He sat beside Naruto and Neji, who spoke about the girls he should ask out.

"Definitely ask out Temari." Neji said. "You had a crush on her, right?"

Aaron sighed. "I'm beginning to doubt whether I should tell you guys anything anymore."

"How about Tenten?" Naruto smiled. Neji frowned, and I had the feeling that there was something between the two.

"Tenten is sacred ground, dude. You'd better count yourself lucky I don't kill you for kissing her." Neji said.

"Hey," Aaron said, putting his hands up. "I get it. She kissed me on the cheek 'cause I'm gonna teach Sakura how to play a song. They've got a band, actually."

"Oh." Neji sighed, his smile coming back. "How about Ino?"

"Nah." Naruto said. "Kiba and her have been on-and-off since last year. Kiba might get pissed."

"It's not like Aaron can't take him." Neji shrugged.

"How about Hinata?" Naruto asked.

Aaron sighed, rubbing his eyelids with his thumb and index finger, a headache forming.


	16. Chapter 16

"Lemme get this right," Aaron said. "You want me to teach you an Avril Lavigne song?"

"Yep." Sakura said.

Aaron wondered why he didn't look before he leaped, but decided to honor his promise. "Alright. You start like this..."

The next day Aaron walked into the school, seeing a banner for the talent show that was to happen next Friday. Aaron shrugged, thinking 'There's no way I'm doing that,' and walked forward. Naruto suddenly ran around the corner, saw Aaron, and grabbed his shoulders, shaking the American as he spoke.

"Aaron! Dude, we gotta enter that talent show! You'd own! I heard some of your songs, dude. I had no idea you could play guitar that well!" Naruto said.

"I told you about that band forever ago, dude! You just now searched them up?" Aaron asked.

"They weren't a big thing when you talked about them to me." Naruto said.

"You mean you're just jumping on the bandwagon?" Aaron asked.

"Maybe a little." Naruto answered.

Aaron sighed. "I just wanna have a normal school year, dude, and I'm not off to a good start with that whole Sasuke-fight-thing."

"Fun-killer." Naruto sniffed. "If you really want to be normal you should take that Akatsuki hoodie off."

"The Akatsuki aren't that bad." Aaron said. "They're more like a group of friends than a gang." Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw Orochimaru walk into the school, and the ex-convict pushed Naruto forward, into the hallway. Aaron followed, worried.

"Dude, why don't you just tell Orochimaru to back off?" Naruto asked.

"I can't get in trouble this year," Aaron admitted. "The system doesn't really trust me."

"Oh," Naruto said. "Are you at least going to the talent show?"

"Sure." Aaron said. "If I can make it through to next Friday, that is."

"You survived prison, dude. You can survive school." Naruto said.

"There wasn't any creepy old dudes in prison." Aaron said.

"Really?" Naruto asked, then heard Sakura talking and smiled. "Sorry dude, but I gotta go. I want to ask Sakura out."

"Go for it, then." Aaron said, patting his friend on the back. Once Naruto ran off, Aaron turned around and strolled to Kakashi's home room, only to find the door shut and locked. "Huh?" Aaron tried the door once more, and had the same result. Kakashi _never_ locked the door. Which meant one thing...

"Hello, Aaron. Kakashi is sick today." Orochimaru said.

Aaron shivered, then said "I feel sick" and ran out of the hallway. Orochimaru shrugged and unlocked the door.

"Music, history, and now this class." Orochimaru sighed. "I'm overworked."

Aaron, indeed, got sick. However, it was not because of Orochimaru; he had eaten something that was not agreeing with him, and had to leave early. When Hinata walked into Kakashi's home room, sitting beside her best friends, she learned this.

"That sucks." Sakura said. "We were supposed to have a lesson."

"Why don't you just search it up on the internet?" Ino asked.

"It's not as easy as singing, Ino-pig!" Sakura said.

"Calm down!" Tenten said, then sighed. "Two of our members can't stop fighting. We should just break the band up already. So, do you think we'll win?"

"We haven't seen our competition yet," Hinata said. Then "Do you think Aaron's okay?"

"He's not at school, so no." Tenten said. "He'll get better, though. You Hyuga are made like bricks."

"Aaron's not really Hyuga," Hinata said. She had been saying this often, though not as an insult. "He's so distantly related it's surprising he even got the byakugan."

"Nobody else in his family did." Neji said, sitting beside the girls in Aaron's empty seat. "He wanted to train himself, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Hinata nodded. "But they wanted him to be closer to his family."

"Or that's what he says," Tenten said.

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"Have you noticed that he never talks about America?" Tenten asked. "I mean, how did you find out Aaron's last name."

"I searched up his band on Wikipedia." Neji said, then "I really don't know anything about Aaron's time in America."

"Me neither." Hinata said. "We should ask him about it."

Neji nodded.


	17. Chapter 17

Neji and Hinata never got to ask Aaron about America, as he never came back to school. They forgot about it, as they were too busy working for the talent show that had moved to that week's Friday. Then, Friday morning, Aaron walked into the school building. He looked the same but, in truth, had lost some weight from being so sick. You couldn't see, however; his jacket hid his weight loss.

"Hey man," Neji said. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Aaron said. "When's the-"

"All students, report to the gym." Tsunade said over the intercom.

"Thank you," Aaron said. The class walked out into the hallway, shuffling forward in the crowd of student. Once they got to the gym, Neji pulled Aaron off into a corner.

"Dude, I need your help." Neji said. "I work the lights, right? Well, Shikamaru isn't here today to help me."

"Where is he?" Aaron asked.

"He probably overslept. Will you help me?" Neji asked.

"Sure," Aaron shrugged. They walked up a hidden set of stairs, and Aaron was surprised to find that, over the gym, a cat walk with several lights on the railing was suspended. When he voiced this surprise, Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Don't they have these in American gyms?" Neji asked.

"Not in any I've been in." Aaron said.

"Whatever. Aaron, grab that light and focus it on Lady Tsunade."

"'Lady Tsunade?' Are we supposed to call her that?"

"Focus the light!"

Aaron did as he said, rolling his eyes.

"Hello, students and teachers," Tsunade said.

"Dude, she's wearing sunglasses. Is she hung over?" Aaron asked.

"Probably." Neji admitted.

"Today, we get to watch our student body and see their talent at work." Tsunade said. "So, without further interruption, we begin!"

"Wow," Aaron said. "She made that look better hung over than I would normally."

"By that do you mean she's hot, or a good public speaker?" Neji asked.

"Take your pick." Aaron said.

"Anyways, the rest of the lights were set by me earlier, so we can turn off the lights now." Neji said. They both turned the lights off, and Aaron wondered something.

"How do you set lights to go off?" Aaron asked.

"Well, first you-!" Neji slumped down, and Orochimaru walked from the shadows just as Tenten and her band began playing.

"Hello Aaron," Orochimaru said.

"Wow." Aaron said. "Avril Lavigne is playing while I beat up a pedophile. Life wasn't this crazy behind bars."

"You were in a juvenile detention center." Orochimaru said.

"Yet, around here, everyone calls that jail." Aaron said. The veins around his eyes grew, and he said "Mr. Orochimaru, you can still walk off."

"That isn't an option for either of us, I'm afraid. I'm tired of waiting." Orochimaru said, taking a katana out of nowhere. Aaron was about to remark once more on how odd his life was when Orochimaru lunged forward, swinging the katana. Aaron fell backwards, copying the main character in _The Matrix_, and kicked Orochimaru in the face, who stumbled back. Aaron pushed himself up, and stood like a boxer.

"Want to rethink that last statement?" Aaron asked.

"Not in the slightest," Orochimaru said, blood running from his nose to his chin. Orochimaru charged forward, and Aaron took long steps backward, just avoiding Orochimaru's katana, and he thought about shouting for help. But, if he did, he would've gotten hurt, and his voice couldn't be heard over the band. Aaron ducked under the sword again, hitting Orochimaru in the stomach, his hands blurring.

"Twenty hit combo, and-" Aaron jump-kicked Orochimaru in the face, causing him to fly back "-one more!"

Orochimaru fell against railing, running his tongue along his busted lip.

"I'm going to kill you and come after your friends, and there isn't a damn thing you can do." Orochimaru said.

Aaron, hearing his friend's names, stopped holding back. He ran forward, only stopping so Orochimaru could swing the sword where he would've been, then grabbed Orochimaru around the neck. He tossed the teacher across the cat walk, Orochimaru not making a sound.

"Aaron!" Deidara said, tossing what looked to be a gray bouncing ball at him. Aaron caught it, and was shocked to realize it was explosive. "Drop it!"

Aaron did in his shock, and the cat walk exploded. Or, rather, the small shake caused by the explosive pushed the cat walk beyond its limit, and part of it fell. Neji's unconscious body, Orochimaru, and Aaron fell down, while Deidara, who was standing on a more stable part of the cat walk, ran off. When they hit the stage, nearly landing on Ino, the band finally stopped playing. The first to stand was Orochimaru, a bleeding wound on his head and no idea what had happened. He grabbed Aaron by the hair and hit him across the face. If he had noticed his katana, Aaron would've been dead.

"I know what you really are, Aaron." Orochimaru said, lifting the student so he could look him in the eye. "A cold-blooded murderer. You killed someone in prison, and nobody knows it was you. That's how you got your scar. I know it! How does it feel, huh? To take a life? Good, right?"

"Hell no." Aaron said, and kicked Orochimaru in the groin. He bent over in pain and Aaron said "Tenten, Hinata, get Neji to the nurse. He got hit on the head."

Aaron felt Orochimaru's cold hand grab his ankle, and he fell to the ground, hitting the stage hard. Aaron immediately kicked Orochimaru several times in the face, scrambling away when the insane teacher finally lost consciousness.


	18. Chapter 18

Aaron ran right into Tsunade, who gave him a tender hug while Asuma and Guy walked onto the stage. Kakashi had appeared in the blink of an eye once he realized what was happening, and now was seriously debating whether to kill Orochimaru and live with the consequences or let the authorities have him.

"Kakashi! Back off!" Tsunade ordered, and, reluctantly, Kakashi did. "Call the police, and make sure Orochimaru rots in a cell."

Asuma and Guy nodded, and dragged the teacher off, while Aaron began crying in Tsunade's hold. Tsunade disappeared with him while the students, still sitting in the bleachers, tried figuring out what happened.

In Tsunade's office, Aaron quickly fell asleep on a leather couch Tsunade had for when she needed to sleep of a few drinks. Tsunade sighed, putting her head in her hands when Shizune walked into the room.

"Tsunade, what do I tell the police?" Shizune asked. Tsunade knew that all she had to do was say the word and Aaron would be put in juvenile detention (or "jail," as the students called it.)

Tsunade looked up and said "Tell them that Aaron courageously defended himself and a fellow student from one of the teachers that will never work again."

Shizune nodded, and left. Aaron rolled over, and Tsunade said "You're welcome."

The rest of the school day was filled with conversations, text messages, and notes about what had happened; questioning how the cat walk had fell, questioning if Aaron would go back to jail or not, if Neji was okay. Some even went so far that Aaron would track down and kill Orochimaru.

But, by far, the most popular subject was about what Orochimaru had said. The microphone had picked up every one of his words, making sure what he said was heard.

"I don't think Aaron has it in him to kill someone. He's too nice," Tenten said. All of the teachers had been called out of their classrooms, so the students were able to talk freely instead of working.

"He might." Ino said. "How can we know? We didn't even know his last name until we saw that stupid paper in the front of the school. Do you know anything about his scar, Hinata?"

_"Don't tell anyone," Aaron said. "Promise, and I'll tell you."_

_ "Alright." Hinata said._

_ "It was in self-defense." Aaron said. "I was just standing around, bored, and this giant kid tackled me. After busting my lip I kicked him off, but he came back. Deidara had just walked out and saw this, so he tossed me a kunai he'd hidden. The bigger guy caught it, and I held up my hand to keep him from hurting me. But, he dragged the kunai down my arm."_

_ Hinata was shocked into silence. Aaron's eyes weren't focused, and Hinata realized that his time in juvenile detention was much worse than he let on._

_ "Deidara kicked him off, gave me the kunai and..." Aaron's eyes refocused. "I threw it away. Guards came, and everything was okay."_

"Hinata, are you okay?" Tenten asked, lightly shaking the Hyuga.

"Huh?" Hinata asked, looking up. "Oh. I'm fine."

"Did Aaron tell you about his scar?" Sakura asked.

Hinata shook her head.

The other girls shrugged.

"Guess we'll just ask him when he gets here." Ino said.

"If he isn't dead." Sakura said.

"Aaron isn't dead." Naruto growled. "Aaron isn't going to get killed by some creepy teacher."

The girls were surprised at the harshness in Naruto's voice; they only thought of him as the slap-happy blonde, not as a teenager who cared for his friends.

Before any of the girls could break the several-second long silence, Neji walked in. His head was bandaged, and numerous small cuts on his hands and face were bandaged. He sat in his seat, wincing as his back bruises touched the seat, and said "What's up?"

Immediately, everyone asked questions.

"Is Aaron dead?"

"What happened?"

"Why'd that cat walk collapse?"

"Are you okay?"

"Is Orochimaru dead?"

"Did Aaron kill anyone?"

"Aaron's alive, I don't know because I was unconscious, I'm fine, and I have no idea if Orochimaru is still among the living." Neji said coolly. "But, I hope he's dead."

Kakashi walked in lazily, looking at the students.

"You guys should do some work." Kakashi said, and took his book out.


	19. Chapter 19

The next Monday, Aaron walked in, listening to his iPod. He sat in his seat, tapping the beat to his song, like nothing happened. When anyone asked about what had happened or if it was true, he would say 'when'd that happen?' And it was that way for a whole month. Soon, people stopped asking about it (to which Neji said 'that's probably what he wanted.') and it was...well, not forgotten, but not talked about.

One day, before school began, Aaron was walking with his best friends, which now included Deidara, since Aaron had told Neji and Naruto of how he helped him. Aaron had stopped hiding his scar, cutting the sleeves off of his Akatsuki jacket, as well as growing his hair out longer. Naruto had said it made him look like an idiot or a hunter from Left 4 Dead 2, but Aaron just shrugged it off. Then, one day, a green-haired girl walked by, and Aaron literally spun around.

"See someone you like?" Naruto asked eagerly, following Aaron's eyes.

"I think I know her." Aaron said.

"She's in near your age-un. She might be someone in your class with a new haircut-un." Deidara said.

"No, I think I know her from America," Aaron said.

"What?" Neji, Naruto, and Deidara all shouted (Deidara was so shocked, in fact, he left off the '-un' for once.) Then, after looking at each other for a second, they picked Aaron up.

"C'mon! We gotta get her attention!" Naruto said.

"Hey! Get offa me!" Aaron shouted, struggling against his friends' hold. But, it was to no avail, and Aaron calmed down when Deidara got her attention in the most subtle way.

"Green-haired girl-un!" Deidara shouted. "Get over here-un!"

"Subtle," as in "subtle-as-a-boot-to-the-face" subtle.

The green-haired girl did walk over, eyebrow raised and arms crossed.

"Aaron think he knows you." Neji said.

The girl looked at Aaron, then smiled.

"Hey Aaron," she said. "Remember me?"

"Yeah." Aaron said. "How are you doing, Leslie?"

"Good. I heard you were in a band."

"I was. Am, I mean. So, you're here. In Konoha City."

"Yeah, I moved here." Leslie said. "Why are you so nervous?"

Aaron was a lot less open in America. He just never fit in, his fellow classmates finding his byakugan unnatural (in America, they never taught ninja skills) and he was very lonely and quiet. Thus, he jumped at the chance to go to somewhere where his skills would be used. Leslie was probably the only friend Aaron had, though they hadn't talked since he left.

"N-No reason." Aaron said. Finally, Deidara and Naruto dropped him, his head hitting the floor. Aaron laid on the floor, hoping the others would think he died. Instead, Naruto and Deidara openly talked about him to Leslie.

"He went to prison," Naruto said.

"Really?" Leslie asked.

"Juvenile detention actually, but everyone around here says jail-un." Deidara said.

"What'd you say?" Leslie asked.

"Everyone calls jail ju-" Deidara began again, thinking Leslie's Japanese was bad.

"No, not that. You added something onto jail." Leslie interrupted.

"What do you mean-un?" Deidara said.

"You did it again. You said un." Leslie said.

Aaron stood, saying "He does that. You'll get used to it."

"So, Aaron, you got into a fistfight with another student and a teacher, huh?" Leslie asked, changing the subject.

"You make it sound like it was one big thing not two separate incidents, but yeah, I did." Aaron admitted.

"Hm. Why do you have a scar?" Leslie asked.

"No reason." Aaron said, then clapped his hands together, making a hand-sign. "See ya'!"

Aaron reappeared in Kakashi's room, a foot from Hinata. Aaron nodded, then saw what was written on the board.

"A dance? Already?" Aaron asked.

Hinata nodded.

"Jeez," Aaron said. "Konoha moves faster than America. You going?"

Hinata shrugged, a question she had keeping her from speaking.

"I might, I guess." Aaron said, sitting in his desk.

Suddenly, Hinata blurted out "Will you go to the dance with me?"


	20. Chapter 20

Aaron smiled. "Like a guy going with a guy to the dance? Alright."

In truth, that was nothing like how Hinata wanted to go to the dance with Aaron. She wanted to go with him in a 'guy-going-with-girl-kissing-after-they-slow-dance-romantically-involved' way. But Hinata still blushed, as Aaron was going with her to the dance.

A little while later the students all walked in, and, late as always, Kakashi did.

"Why are you never here on time?" Aaron asked.

Kakashi looked down at him, then thought, looking at the roof and scratching his chin.

"I get lost." Kakashi said.

"How? I found out you live a block from the school."

"It's creepy you know my address."

"Wait, what? Don't change the subject!"

"I'm not. Anyways, we have a new teacher. His name is Jiraiya." Kakashi said, and the whole class moaned.

"That sucks! For a whole month we've had a good teacher!" Naruto said. In truth they had Shikamaru, a certified genius, act as the teacher in their classes that Orochimaru used to teach. He would fall asleep and give them all an A+ if they didn't wake him up. Naruto began slipping sleeping pills in the soda the school paid him with, so he would fall asleep all day only to wake up in a pool of his drool. Shikamaru noticed something was up but didn't care; the sleeping pills helped him sleep when he would wake up, so he voluntarily took them after a few weeks.

"Good teacher or one that doesn't make you work?" Kakashi asked.

"Is there a difference?" Neji asked, and the class laughed.

"Anyways," Kakashi said, "Jiraiya is your new teacher. Feel free to talk now."

Aaron immediately turned to Naruto and Neji (he had bargained with one of the students for their seat in front of Neji and Naruto) and they began to talk.

"Dude, I'm going to ask Sakura out to the dance." Naruto said.

"Good luck. She hates you." Aaron said.

"She's just playing hard-to-get." Naruto said.

"Sure." Aaron said, hoping he didn't say that to Sakura. He'd have to find another stupid friend, and those were hard to come by.

Across the room, another discussion about the dance with the girls was happening.

"So, have you asked Aaron out yet?" Tenten asked.

"Yes." Hinata said, hoping none of the girls wanted details. Of course, they did.

"What did he say?" Sakura asked.

"He, uh, thinks we're going as friends." Hinata admitted.

"Did you correct him?" Ino asked.

"Um...No." Hinata played with her fingers.

"Why not?" Tenten asked.

"I was happy that he'd even _go_ with me." Hinata said. She knew that Aaron had a few limits; he couldn't meet her father or mother (they hated him with a passion) due to his restraining order, and that he had trouble talking about his past. But she still loved him.

"You should've told him 'I love you, and you should go to the dance with me.'" Sakura said commandingly, letting her 'Inner Sakura' out.

"T-That sounds l-like I'm f-forcing him." Hinata stuttered, the conversation very uncomfortable for her.

"You should just go right now," Ino said.

"Yeah!" Tenten said. "Don't think about it!"

Sakura pushed Hinata up, and the shy Hyuga walked over to Aaron, who was trying to tell Naruto that saying 'she's just playing hard-to-get' was creepy unsuccessfully.

"Maybe it sounds creepy when _you_ say it." Naruto said.

"It sound creepy when you say it, too." Aaron said.

"No it doesn't." Naruto said.

"Yes, it does!" Aaron said.

"You're just not good with girls," Naruto waved.

"And you're just so good, right? You've got a harem, and eight girlfriends, right?" Aaron asked, getting angry at his friend.

"Of course not! I'm a one-woman kind of guy." Naruto said.

Aaron's eye twitched. "Neji, get ready to hold me back. I'm going to finally do it. I'm finally going to kill Naruto."

"Took you long enough." Neji shrugged. He'd been watching the argument, trying not to laugh, and could only choke out those four words without bursting out laughing. Aaron noticed Hinata and turned, looking at her.

"What's up?" Aaron asked.

"I-I...Uh..." Hinata turned around, red from head-to-toe, and went back to her seat.

"That was weird." Aaron said.

"Do you have a date yet?" Naruto asked.

"No." Aaron said. "I'm going with Hinata as a friend, but I don't have a date."

"Ask that Leslie girl out." Naruto said.

"Who?" Neji asked, and Aaron and Naruto told him the story.


	21. Chapter 21

"You should totally do it!" Naruto said.

"No way in hell." Aaron said. "She's not just my friend, dude."

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

Aaron sighed. "Right. I usually don't say anything about my life in America-"

"We've noticed." Neji said.

Aaron continued. "But I'll break my rule once. Leslie was my girlfriend back in America. I was blind, though, and didn't realize how fake our relationship was. Then, one day, she broke up with me. I got a band together, and we got pretty famous."

"Wait, so you made that band because Leslie broke up with you?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. Didn't you notice the first album was all about ended relationships?" Aaron asked.

"We only listened to the newest album." Neji said.

"Meaning you jumped on the bandwagon?" Aaron asked.

"Pretty much." Neji admitted.

"And watched my songs on YouTube instead of buying the CD?" Aaron asked.

"Nope. We listened to them on Playlist." Naruto said.

"I love that site." Aaron smiled, then got on topic. "Anyways, Leslie broke up with me. It was brutal, to say the least. I formed a band, then left when my parents were worried the "rock 'n roll life" would kill me." Aaron used finger-quotes when saying "rock 'n roll lifestyle," as that was the exact words his parents used.

"Wait, didn't you come here to get closer to your family?" Neji asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. My parents had several reasons for me coming here, but I can't tell which one was the biggest reason." Aaron said. "So, there you go. I'm not going out with Leslie."

"We still need to get suits. It's a very formal dance." Neji said.

"But I hate wearing a suit!" Naruto whined.

"Sakura's already going with you," Neji said, then whispered "or saying she will."

"Yeah, and are you gonna say no to her?" Aaron asked.

"Guess not..." Naruto said. "But the suit's gonna be orange!"

"Why are you telling us?" Neji asked.

"And where the hell are you going to get an orange suit?" Aaron asked.

Across the room, the girls weren't talking about clothing.

"You just walked off?" Sakura asked, even though she'd seen it for herself.

"If that had been the boy I like, I'd have planted one on him right there." Ino said.

"Of course you would do something so whorish!" Sakura said.

"Hey!" Kakashi said, and the class went silent. "Is 'whorish' a word?

Choji shook Shikamaru, then asked him if whorish was, indeed, a word.

"Yes." Shikamaru said, then fell back asleep.

"Okay. Go back to talking." Kakashi said, looking at his book once more.

"Anyways," Tenten said. "Why didn't he immediately know you meant romantically?"

"We are related, Tenten." Hinata said.

"It's not like Neji and you are going out, Hinata. You two are so distant it's not gross." Sakura said.

"I still think it's gross." Ino said.

"Who cares what you think?" Sakura asked, and Ino growled.

"Hinata, do you want me to tell him?" Tenten asked.

Hinata shook her head. "I'll tell him myself."

"Go Hinata!" Tenten cheered, smiling. "When are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know yet. I'll tell you, though." Hinata said.

"We'll hold you to it." Sakura smiled.

On the other side of the room Aaron realized that he would have to buy a suit for the dance. He voiced this realization to Naruto and Neji, surprising them both.

"Aren't you rich?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not poor, if that's what you mean." Aaron said. Though he _could_ be qualified as rich, he didn't like thinking of himself or saying that he was rich.

"Then why don't you own a suit?" Naruto asked.

"Wait, because I have money you think I own a suit?" Aaron asked.

"Generally, the rich have suits." Neji said.

"I'm rocker! I don't wear suits!" Aaron protested.

"You have to for the dance." Neji said.

"Not to mention that you'll buy suit for your two best friends." Naruto said.

"Wait, what?" Aaron asked.


	22. Chapter 22

Hinata tried several times to tell Aaron that she, indeed, had romantic feelings for him, but, whenever he smiled, looking at her with those white eyes that looked so good on him and not on her (in her mind, anyways), her words caught in her throat, her cheeks turned bright red, and she went back to her seat, silently sitting down and changing the subject when her friends inevitably pulled the subject up.

Then, finally, the day before the dance came. Neji and Naruto had skipped, while Aaron opted (meaning they had forced him to go to school to get a date, saying they would somehow, some way, get embarrassing pictures of him either as a baby or nude and post them on the internet) to get a date. Of course, he didn't even try to get one; instead, he spent the day with the Akatsuki.

"Aaron-un!" Deidara smiled, patting the teen on the back. "Got a girl, yet?"

"No, and I'm not looking." Aaron said. "I'm going with Hinata, as a friend kinda thing."

"Sure," Deidara said sarcastically. It was well-known among the Akatsuki who liked who in the school, as they were all secretly terrible gossips, so they all knew that Hinata had a very large crush on Aaron. "Have you heard that Shikamaru asked Temari out and she said yes?"

Aaron raised an eyebrow, not knowing that the Akatsuki loved rumors he had grown to dislike.

"You never told him we gossip." Pain said.

"Oops-un." Deidara said. "Anyways, we won't be at the dance-un. We'll be messing around in the football court-un. Feel free to drop by-un."

"Alright," Aaron said. "What'll you be doing?"

"We don't know, but it'll be fun." Kisame chuckled. Aaron thought it was his imagination making him think that Kisame's chuckle sounded evil. Of course it was a normal, every-day "let's-have-fun" chuckle.

"Cool." Aaron said, and the bell rang. "Gotta go. See ya'."

The rest of the day was uneventful, Aaron quickly becoming annoyed with all the chatter about the dance. Who cared _that_ much?

Naruto and Neji, apparently.

"My suit's so cool!" Naruto said.

"Better be. It cost more than my favorite guitar." Aaron grumbled.

"Mine looks good, too." Neji said.

"It's a business suit. Every office worker in the world has one." Aaron said.

"Yours is good, too." Naruto said.

Aaron had bought a gray suit, then a red shirt, throwing the tie away.

**A/N: Yes, gray and red are the official Marioninja1 colors. -MN1**

"Whatever." Aaron said.

"Somebody's moody." Naruto said.

"I honestly don't care about the dance that much." Aaron shrugged.

"Whatever. So, in America, is going with your cousin common?" Neji asked.

"I will hit you. In the mouth. With my fist." Aaron yawned, then rubbed his eyes.

"What's up with you?" Neji asked.

"Stayed up late jamming online with my band." Aaron said. "Can't wait for summer."

"Neither can I," Naruto agreed.

Finally, the day passed, and night came to Konoha. Aaron went to the red line he had painted fifty feet away from Hinata's house, surprised no one had removed it, and waited. Hinata walked out, telling the half-truth that her date was coming to pick her up. As she walked up to the red line, Aaron looked at her light blue dress that glittered in the light of the full moon, and smiled at the fact she wore no make-up. She looked beautiful, and her body looked so sexy in the dress-

'Stop it! That's your cousin!' Aaron thought, realizing how Hinata looked was having... Uncomfortable effects on his body.

"Hinata." Aaron smiled, bowing like some gentleman.

Hinata blushed, but fought it back. "Do you have a car?"

"I can't drive yet, but I still have a car." Aaron said, gesturing towards the limo.

"Is Neji and Naruto in it?" Hinata asked.

"Nope." Aaron said. "I bought their suits. They can take a taxi. If you have those in Konoha."

Aaron and Hinata walked the short distance to the limo. Aaron opened the door for her, Hinata fighting back a blush the whole time. Then, after she got in an slid to the side, Aaron got in, and the driver drove to Konoha High.

"So," Aaron said, "are any of your friends going to be there?"

"I-I think so." Hinata said, stuttering once more, for which she mentally cursed.

"Cool." Aaron smiled. Hinata turned redder than before, and Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Is it hot in here?"

'It's just you.' Hinata thought.


	23. Chapter 23

Hinata kept looking at Aaron during the car ride, noticing a small scar, which she pointed out.

"The one on my cheek? I got that from some idiot throwing a glass at me when my band was first starting out." Aaron chuckled. "See, he was some drunk idiot, and wanted me to play Freebird."

Hinata raised an eyebrow. "That one old song?"

"Yeah. Some dude at every concert shouts it. I don't get it, either, but whatever." Aaron said. "After he hit me with the bottle, I tossed my guitar off, jumped on him, and... Well, beat him black and blue. The security was actually protecting _him_ from _me_."

"Did he press charges?" Hinata asked.

"No. He was drunk in public, so he'd have gotten in trouble. That, and the club wasn't supposed to let me in; I was, and still am, a minor." Aaron shrugged. "C'est la vie, right?"

Embarrassing things happened to Hinata when Aaron said that. "What does that mean?"

"It's French. It means 'Such Is Life.'" Aaron said. "I'm fluent in French. My dad always said I needed to learn a language, so I did."

"Why French?" Hinata asked.

Aaron laughed, then said "He asked that same thing. I said 'So I can get girls.'"

Then, just as the car stopped, Hinata eased forward, trying to plant a kiss on Aaron. Not noticing, Aaron got out and held the car door open for her. When he saw her laying out on the back seat, noticing the dress was backless, he quickly began buttoning up his coat, hoping to hide his front.

Hinata was too embarrassed to notice, however, and silently got up and got out of the car. Aaron shut the door, and the driver of the limo drove off to find parking. Aaron and Hinata went into the building, quickly finding their way to the gym.

The gym's lights had been mostly turned off, and a large amount of colored lights put up. Aaron, however, noticed a stage. What caught his eye, however, was a drum kit, with the name of his band on it.

Aaron immediately noticed his other band members standing, with one of the roadies tuning his guitar, and got the gist of what was going on. By the time Naruto and Neji had ran up to Aaron, he knew that he was going to be forced to play.

"Surprise!" Neji smiled.

"Thought you'd like being in the band again!" Naruto said.

"So much for an average school dance." Aaron said. "When do we play?"

"After a slow song, to bring up the energy." Neji said. "One of those sound kids planned it out."

"How'd this get past me?" Aaron wondered.

"You miss out on a lot," Sakura said, looking at Hinata. She mouthed 'Dance with him' right before running off with Naruto.

"The two are getting along?" Aaron asked, surprised.

"Actually, yeah." Neji said, then saw Tenten. "See ya'!"

A slow song started playing, and Hinata turned to Aaron, about to ask him to dance when Aaron beat her to it.

"Wanna dance?" Aaron asked. In his eyes he saw it as a 'might-as-well-screw-around-while-the-adrenaline's-rushing,' but, to Hinata, those two words made her heart beat ten times as fast.

"O-Okay." Hinata said. Aaron took one hand and put the other on her waist, while Hinata put her shaking hand on his shoulder. They began dancing- nothing difficult, but still more than Hinata thought Aaron knew. "How'd you learn how to dance?" Hinata asked.

"Just watching people." Aaron said. "I may seem like I have it all nowadays- a band, friends, that stuff -but, back in America, I was a nobody. I was the guy holding up the walls with one or two friends. Then, when I got here, I made sure everything was different. I acted out more. I was myself. You're stronger than me, though. You did it without even moving away."

Hinata tried to say something, but couldn't form the words. So, she leaned forward, and put her lips to Aaron's. If it had been anyone else, Aaron would've kissed her back. If Aaron had expected it, it would've been someone else. But it wasn't, and he didn't, so he stood frozen until Naruto literally walked over, picked him up, and put him on the stage.

"You ready to do this?" Kyle Meiki, the singer, asked. Kyle was known to make covers of songs, as well as singing them to himself when doing just about everything.

**A/N: Kyle Meiki is from one of my other series, Naruto: Kyle's Story, where he's the main character. It was actually my first Naruto series. -MN1**

"Alright." Aaron said, picking his guitar up and putting it on him. He promised himself he would deal with the fact he kissed his cousin-'maredneck!- later. For now, he had to play guitar.

"This is from our newest album! It's our most popular here in Japan, so you should know it!" Kyle said. "Here goes! One, two, three, four!"

After they began playing, several people dancing to the high-energy rock, several people ran in. At first, Aaron thought it was a mosh- he'd been in and seen many of them -but, once he realized that two people were down and no one was helping them, he realized it was something actually violent. Aaron shouted, the band still playing, at someone to stop it. Several people did, only to be knocked out. When he realized Deidara and Leslie were in the middle though, he threw his guitar off.

"What are you doing, Aaron?" Kyle asked.

Aaron jumped off the stage, not answering.


	24. Chapter 24

Aaron immediately stormed up to the group, only to realize with a shock the whole of the Akatsuki were beating up Deidara and Leslie.

"What the f**k is going on!" Aaron roared, his voice echoing off the gym walls.

"Just in time. Deidara didn't like our game." Pain said.

"He didn't want us to play with this girl." Kisame said. "We're showing him what happens when you don't do what we w-"

Aaron immediately lifted his leg until it was diagonal, then brought it down on Kisame's head.

"Get the hell out." Aaron said.

"You're betraying us, too? For a girl who hated you and one friend, as opposed to all of us?" Pain asked. "You'd risk your life for these two?"

"Yeah." Aaron said as Naruto, clad in an orange suit, and Neji, wearing a business suit, walked up to his sides. "We all will."

Pain nodded. "Kill them!"

Immediately, Tobi launched forward, fist aimed at Aaron's face. Aaron deflected it, then, as he spun around and kicked Tobi in the face, cracking his mask, shouted "Counterattack!"

"How many times did you see _Scott Pilgrim_?" Pain taunted.

"You got the references? That's a first." Aaron said, surprised no one got his 'combo attack!' veiled references once in the school year. Then, he raised his fists, the veins appearing around his eyes, and said "Ass-kicking time, guys. I'll take Pain."

"I'll take as many as I can get my hands on!" Naruto smiled.

"I will, too." Neji said.

"Good. When will the cops show?" Aaron asked.

"Who knows?" Naruto shrugged.

"Hope it isn't too soon. I gotta think of an excuse." Aaron said, then ran at Pain. Immediately, he went for an easy fifteen-hit attack, but Pain blocked it all, then kicked him away. Aaron smashed into the wall, cracks appearing in the cinderblocks.

"Aaron!" Hinata shouted.

"I'm fine," Aaron said, pushing himself away from the wall. He tossed his jacket off, cracked his neck, then ran at Pain again. Once more, he was launched, this time smashing into a speaker. He knocked it over, but still got up again.

"You're throwing your most powerful moves at me, but you still can't win!" Pain shouted. "Just give up!"

"I don't give up!" Aaron shouted, then ran at Pain. He moved like he was going to hit Pain, then brought his knee up into his groin. While bending down, Aaron grabbed his hair and brought his knee up into his face twice, then tossed him aside.

"Run!" Zetsu shouted, trying to get Konan to stand up, but she refused to go without Pain. Itachi tried picking Pain up, only for Naruto to knock him out. Eventually, they all ran away, and the whole school cheered for the three. Aaron sat on the bleachers, taking deep breaths, and Hinata walked over to him.

"Aaron, are you... Oh my god!" Hinata exclaimed. A long trickle of blood ran down Aaron's head, from where he had cracked his head open.

"I don't feel too good." Aaron said, then collapsed. Finally, the cops arrived with an ambulance. They took Aaron away, with Hinata coming with him, holding his hand the whole way.

In the morning, Aaron moaned.

"Wake up in the morning feelin' like crap, like I've been pimp-slapped..." Aaron muttered, then opened his eyes to see Hinata, still looking beautiful. 'Kissed my cousin and I regret it, really wish she'd forget it.'

"Hey." Hinata said, then, seeing Aaron's expression said, "I'm creepy, aren't I? I-I kissed you, a-and..." Hinata looked down, and Aaron heard her sniff. Aaron sat up, although his head was still reeling, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," Aaron said, "chill. Let's take it one step at a time. Have you been here all night?"

"Yeah." Hinata sniffed.

"Well," Aaron said, lifting Hinata's head. "You deserve this." Then, Aaron kissed Hinata. Hinata wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling Aaron closer as the kiss heated up. Hinata was slightly embarrassed, as 1. Aaron was a much better kisser than her and 2. He was in a hospital, and might have brain damage, which was why he was kissing her. In truth, neither of the two bothered Aaron.

Finally, the kiss was broke, with Hinata's eyes half-lidded.

"I-I d-don't think I deserved that from staying the night with you." Hinata said, forcing herself to stop stuttering when she realized she was.

"Then you can pay me back the extra," Aaron said. "How would you feel about a date?"

"I'd love it." Hinata said.

Then, a black-and-blue Deidara walked in, holding Leslie's hand.


	25. Chapter 25

"Deidara? Why aren't you confined to a bed?" Aaron asked.

"You aren't, either. You just passed out." Leslie said.

"Oh, right." Aaron said, not truly remembering much. "What's up?"

"Since both of us got most of the Akatsuki arrested, I think we should create another group-un." Deidara said.

"You told them about what we did?" Aaron asked.

"No. About what _we_ did. You never did anything wrong, Aaron." Deidara said. "And, when I saw them attacking Leslie, I realized everything the Akatsuki did was wrong." 

"Then what's the point of making a new gang?" Aaron asked.

"Not a gang." Deidara said. "I was thinking a club. We could play music, gossip, paint... Whatever we wanted."

"The school wouldn't approve that." Aaron said.

"Not for me-un," Deidara said. "Sure, I'm not going to jail for all the help I gave the cops, but I'm listed as a troublemaker-un. But you, on the other hand, are viewed as a freakin' hero-un."

"Huh?" Aaron asked.

"Lemme show him." Leslie said, walking over to Aaron's bed and grabbing the remote. She turned on the television to the new, where footage of Aaron knocking out the Akatsuki was playing. It was grainy, probably from a camera phone. "You're an internet sensation, Aaron. All of your CD's are getting downloaded way more, and the school loves you, because now they get a bigger budget from all the PR about how well they trained you."

"You sound like one of those guys who produce our records." Aaron said, looking at the TV.

"Thank you." Leslie said.

"That's not a good thing." Aaron said. "But still. I'll try to get the Akatsuki Club open, and if it opens I'll keep it clean."

"Thanks-un." Deidara said, then, when leaving, said "You know there's a window on the wall between here and the hall and all the nurses saw you making out, right-un?"

"Let 'em watch." Aaron smiled as Hinata blushed brightly. Aaron took hold of Hinata's hand, making her heart beat faster, and Deidara and Leslie walked off.

"So," Aaron said, "what do you want our date to be like? And how are you going to tell your dad we're dating?"

"I-I'm not worrying about it." Hinata said, blushing from the warmth of Aaron's hand.

Aaron lifted her hand, kissing the back of it, and said "How did I never notice you're the perfect girl?"

The two went to school that Monday, holding hands as they walking into the building. Thanks to the internet, phones, and- of course -texting, the whole school knew about Hinata and Aaron dating. They didn't find it creepy- hell, after a little internet searching you could find out that the byakugan was held by two completely separate clans, though no one knew which one Aaron belonged to.

They did, though, have a giant drawing put on the billboard. It was of a chibi Hinata and a chibi Aaron holding hands. Aaron was standing, a guitar on his back and looking at Hinata, while Hinata blushed, looking out of the corner of her eye while her head was turned, a heart over her head.

Hinata blushed looking at it, but Aaron just laughed.

"You're so cute as a plushie!" Aaron said.

"Chibi." Naruto corrected.

"That's the first time I've gotten Japanese culture wrong, dude. Gimme a break." Aaron said, putting his hand around Hinata's waist. "So, does your dad still not know we're dating?"

"N-No." Hinata said, blushing and stuttering as she felt Aaron's breath in her ear, sending chills down her body.

"Oh well," Aaron said. "Guess he doesn't need to know."

"Man, you're a really touchy-feely kind of guy." Tenten said.

"I'm secretly a terrible romantic." Aaron shrugged. "Don't tell anybody."

"We won't have to." Neji said. Aaron suddenly felt several eyes on him, and he didn't think the people who were staring were looking at his new leather jacket he'd bought because Hinata said he looked cute in it. Aaron turned to see all of his class smiling at him.

"Well?" Someone asked. "Kiss her!"

"If you insist," Aaron smiled, and brought Hinata in for a passionate kiss, feeling her pale arms wrapping around him.

Aaron didn't think life could get any better.

**A/N: I don't know whether to continue the series or not. I guess I'll let the readers decide.**

**-MN1**


End file.
